U-Visa Question and Answer Session – U-Visa Question and Answer session, from November 2007 Q&A sessions with USCIS, ICE and CBP at the National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women conference in Lexington, Kentucky.

Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in Florida – A Guide for Judges, Lawyers, and Child Advocates – Guide intended to provide an overview of the process of applying for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status in Florida and to help point out potential difficulties in the process. These materials are meant to assist judges, attorneys, social workers, accredited representatives and advocates in assisting those children potentially qualified for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Although the manual provides an overview of federal and state law with regard to SIJ Status, it is geared to assisting lawyers, social workers and judges operating in Florida.

USCIS Memo Re: Field Guidance on SIJS – Memorandum is to provide policy and procedural clarification on the adjudication of Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) petitions. This guidance memorandum, the third since the 1997 statutory amendment, consolidates and supersedes all previous guidance issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Manual: Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrants – Comprehensive guide for advocates working with immigrant survivors of domestic violence. Consisting of 15 chapters, this manual includes in-depth information on the VAWA self-petitioning requirements and process, adjustment of status, inadmissibility and waivers, consular processing, conditional permanent residency, VAWA cancellation of removal, special immigrant juvenile status, the new U and T visas, gender-related asylum, and public benefits. Also featured are practical tips for working with immigrant survivors of domestic violence, assembling and documenting a strong VAWA self-petition, fee waiver requests, declarations and more.

WomensLaw.Org: VAWA Laws and Procedures – Site provides information on how to gain permanent residency under VAWA as well as information regarding certain special cases such as being divorced, widowed, or remarried.

INS Guidelines for Children’s Asylum Claims – Memorandum is written to provide the Asylum Officer Corps (AOC) with background and guidance on adjudicating children’s asylum claims. This guidance applies primarily to, children under the age of 18 who apply for asylum independently rather than as a derivative applicant by submitting a Form I-589 asylum application in their own name. Many of these issues will also be relevant to overseas Immigration Officers in processing the refugee applications of children.

For additional informtion and guidance on seeking asylum please visit the site for the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS) at the University of California Hastings Law School at http://cgrs.uchastings.edu//

About CGRS: CGRS’s core mission is to protect the basic human rights of refugee women and girls by advancing gender-sensitive asylum laws, helping advocates successfully represent women in need of protection, and preventing these refugees from being forcibly returned to the countries from which they have fled.

The Child Trafficking Resource Project (CTRP) is part of the Child Trafficking Outreach Initiative at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST). The Child Trafficking Outreach Initative was created by CAST in order to increase identification of child trafficking survivors in the Los Angeles Area. Child trafficking is an underidentified crime in in ... Continue reading →